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Welcome from our Presidents
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On behalf of RDAA and ACRRM, welcome to this first edition of Rural and Remote Response - our weekly e-newsletter to keep rural and remote doctors and practices informed on all things COVID-19.
We hope you find this weekly e-bulletin useful – our intention is to distribute it every Wednesday morning while the COVID-19 emergency continues.
We know that many of you are worried about your capacity to meet the demand for care, should the pandemic take hold in your rural community.
Rest assured we have been communicating your concerns urgently to the federal and state governments, and to their respective health departments, and will continue to do so.
We have been working tirelessly with governments and health departments to ensure that the needs of rural and remote doctors are not forgotten in terms of workforce, PPE resourcing, test kits and ventilators.
See more information on this below.
We stand by our many rural doctors and other health professionals who are working on the frontline of this crisis.
Please get in touch with us if we can assist in any way.
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Dr Ewen McPhee
ACRRM President
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Dr John Hall
RDAA President
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Some housekeeping
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Those of you who are members of both RDAA and ACRRM will receive this first edition of Rural and Remote Response twice (as we are sending it out to our separate membership lists). To ensure you only receive next week’s edition once, please login to your RDA membership account and untick the ‘ COVID-19 Bulletin Rural and Remote Response’ button. Alternatively, email media@rdaa.com.au and we will untick it for you.
This will remove you from RDAA’s list for the COVID-19 bulletin, while keeping you on the list (via ACRRM) for future editions. Note that the other e-updates from your state RDA or RDAA that you subscribe to will be unaffected (you will still receive these other e-updates in the future). Please also note that if you are a member of only RDAA or ACRRM (not both organisations), you need take no other action. |
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Information for the public and patients
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Need to point your patients to information on all things COVID-19? Direct them to the Federal Department of Health’s website - there is a wealth of information on COVID-19 that is easily accessible from the home page. |
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Information for medical professionals
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The Federal Department of Health is regularly updating a wide range of information on COVID-19 for health professionals, which is available on their website. |
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Chief Medical Officer email updates
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The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy and Principal Medical Advisor, Professor Michael Kidd AM are issuing an email update on COVID-19 twice weekly or more if required. The latest update, issued on Tuesday 24 March, can be found here. You can also subscribe to the newsletters here to receive the update directly to your inbox. |
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Minister provides update on further telehealth expansion, additional PPE
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The Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt MP, held a press conference yesterday (Tuesday) to provide an update on the Government’s response to the COVID-19 emergency. He was joined by the Federal Department of Health’s Principal Medical Advisor, Professor Michael Kidd AM and the Commonwealth’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Alison McMillan. Amongst a range of issues, the Minister discussed the wider rollout of telehealth items to the general public from next Monday, provided an update on the delivery of additional masks and other PPE to health services, and discussed the extent of testing for the virus in Australia. Read the transcript from the press conference here. |
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Key actions we have been undertaking
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In each edition of Remote and Rural Response, we will provide a quick update of key actions we have been undertaking on your behalf during the COVID-19 crisis.
To-date, we have been:
- in constant communication with senior advisors to the Federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt MP, and the Federal Minister for Regional Health, Mark Coulton MP
- meeting twice weekly (more if required) with the Federal Department of Health’s Principal Medical Advisor, Professor Michael Kidd AM, as part of a forum of medical bodies to discuss the ongoing needs for general practice during this crisis - through this and other mechanisms, we have been ensuring the rural voice is heard loud and clear at the federal level
- attending State Government briefings (via the state RDAs and ACRRM) to ensure rural and remote issues are represented there
- talking daily with the Federal Government and the Federal Department of Health regarding the urgent need to secure supply of PPE for rural and remote general practices and hospitals
- continuing to advocate for the Government to enable telehealth consults for the general population (where clinically appropriate) to further reduce the risk for patients and health professionals in contracting coronavirus - this is expected to be announced on Friday
- working with the Federal Department of Health on the need for a workforce response to the crisis – including ensuring the availability of additional clinical and non-clinical workforce resources in rural and remote communities
- working with the Federal Health Department to ensure retrieval services are available and can be maintained at their maximum capacity, in order to support the retrieval of critically ill rural patients should COVID-19 take hold in rural and remote communities
- undertaking a large number of media interviews (including with both metropolitan and regional media), and issuing a variety of public health messages through the mainstream media and social media channels
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Webinars and teleconferences this week
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ACRRM webinar - Getting started with telehealth
Date: Today (Wednesday) 25 March
Time: 1pm (AEDT)
Join Dr Shannon Nott a leading expert in telehealth and virtual health care to look at what's required to getting started with telehealth in Primary Care. Register for this webinar via the ACRRM website.
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Primary Health Care COVID-19 Response Teleconference (open invite)
Date: Today (Wednesday) 25 March
Time: 1pm (AEDT)
The Federal Department of Health’s Principal Medical Advisor, Professor Michael Kidd AM, has issued an invite for healthcare professionals, practice staff and others to join the first Primary Health Care COVID-19 Response Update meeting, to be held via teleconference today. Professor Kidd will provide an update on key issues relating to the national response to COVID-19. Dial-in details for the teleconference are as follows:
Australia toll free: 1800 047 396
Australia direct: 02 8017 1300 (Sydney)
Participant passcode: 305858 then #
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COVID-19 response update to General Practitioners
Date: Thursday 26 March
Time: 1:00 - 1:30pm (AEDT)
The Federal Department of Health’s Principal Medical Advisor, Professor Michael Kidd AM, is hosting a twice weekly webinar to update GPs on the current COVID-19 situation, particularly with regard to key issues for GPs and general practices. Questions can be submitted once the webinar commences (via the online chat tool), and they will be answered during the 30-minute webinar. The next webinar will be held on Thursday 26 March and you can register here.
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Your questions answered
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Members have questions regarding telehealth prescribing, and ordering tests following a telehealth consult. Here are some examples with more information from the Federal Department of Health.
Q: Are signatures required on requests for pathology or diagnostic imaging if the doctor is ordering these following a telehealth consult?
A: Please click here for advice received from the Federal Department of Health.
Q: What is the current state of play with regards to electronic prescribing, and interim measures following the rollout of additional telehealth items?
A: Please click here for advice received from the Federal Department of Health.
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Resources for rural and remote doctors
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- MDA National creates online info hub for COVID-19 - MDA National has created a special online hub to assist and support doctors during the COVID-19 crisis. It will be especially useful to doctors who want to learn more about their legal responsibilities to patients and staff in response to COVID-19. MDA National will be updating this hub regularly with FAQs and other important information that can guide you through this difficult time.
- Information from RANZCR - Referral of Patients with Confirmed or Suspected COVID-19 Infection for Medical Imaging Procedures - ACRRM has been asked to pass on the following message from RANZCR. Access this information here.
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| You are receiving this email notification because this email address is listed as the contact email address with ACRRM. Unsubscribe or change preferences. © 2020 Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. All rights reserved. Level 2, 410 Queen Street, Brisbane, QLD, 4000. ABN 12 078 081 848 |
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